Growing Old and Growing Strong

As we age it is more important than ever that we build strength in our muscles. Building muscles tone helps our bodies work more efficiently, protects our joints and keeps our minds healthy. Staying physically active by walking and exercising is not enough; we also need to build muscle. Increasing protein, taking vitamins and lifting weights are all important aspects to growing stronger as we age. Taking the time to grow stronger can minimize health issues and keep you enjoying time with your family and friends.

Protein

We know that protein is an important part to a balanced diet, but sometimes we do not get enough of it. As we age, getting protein in our diet becomes even more important. We want to increase the healthy proteins and limit the proteins that can cause high cholesterol and blood pressures. Eating more fresh fish, white meat and legumes is a great way to increase your protein with healthy foods. At the same time you want to limit the amount of red meat you are eating because it does not have the health benefits and can actually cause increases to your cholesterol and blood pressure. Another little known source of protein is green vegetables and quinoa these health market staples are the perfect addition to salads and will have the added benefit of being low in calories.

Vitamins

Talk with your doctor at your next visit to get a good picture of the vitamins that you are low in and need to work harder to increase. Typically as we age our vitamin D and B’s are depleted quickly and we need to work hard to keep them at normal levels. Eating healthy and incorporating lots of dark green vegetables can help with these vitamins. But for some of us, eating healthy is just not enough; in that case you can take a multi-vitamin on a daily basis. Vitamins come in pill, chewable and powered forms so you can find just the right fit for you. It is not necessary to take dozens of different individual vitamins, find a multi-vitamin that you like and take it daily to help keep your body strong.

Weight Lifting

To grow stronger we need to keep our muscles active. The best way to keep our muscles active is by using them. The word, weight lifting, can seem very intimidating to someone who is not use to spending time in the gym. You do not need to start frequenting your local gym to participate in weight living though. Simply get a set of small hand weights to keep at your house. Start incorporating strength exercises that use your weights or even use your own body weight. Start slow and build up to more repetitions. Spending just a few minutes each day working on your muscle strength can add up to big benefits for your overall strength. If you do not have weights around, simple use some canned food from your pantry. Weight lifting does not need to be hard or take up a lot of our time to be effective.

Taking small steps to keep your body strong as your grow older will help your overall healthy. Your mind will be sharper and your body stronger, as you grow older. Keep your family involved so you can work together and build your family dynamics while also growing stronger. Take time to eat more protein, get plenty of vitamins and incorporate weight training to build the muscle you need to stay strong. It is important that you talk with your doctor about other ways you can stay healthy and grow strong as you are growing older.